Refrigeration



April 3, 1934.

H. E. STEVENS ET AL REFRIGERATITON Filed Jan. 19, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet l April 3, 1934.

H. E. STEVENS ET AL REFRIGERATI ON 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fiied Jan. 19, 1955 April 3', 1934. STEVENS r L I 1,953,836

REFRIGERATION Filed Jan. 19 195; :s Sheets-Sheet 3 aa 8/ a 37 aa 7 Patented Apr. 3, 1934 I A I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATION Henry E. Stevens and James W. Windham, Jacksonville, Fla., and George C. Albee and Esty Foster, South Orange, N. J.; said Stevens and said Windham assignors of-all their rights to said Albee I Application January 19, 1933, Serial No. 652,524

1 Claims. (01'. sa-is) The present invention relates in general to Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line tl---3 of refrigeration and has particular reference to me- Fig. 1; chanical refrigerators, cooling cabinets, ice boxes Fig. 4' is a view in cross section on the line and the like commonly used for preserving food 4-4 of Fig. 1;

5 stuffs in households, restaurants and under other Fig. 5 is a detail view in perspective of the op- 60 like conditions. erating arm for the compartment ventilating So called mechanical refrigerators of the type shutters;

indicated are usually equipped with grille like Fig. 6 is a detail view in section of a drop cover shelves for supporting the food stuffs in one large for one of the compartments;

10 exposed compartment; Under these conditions Fig. '7 is a detail view of the shutter operating 65 when the door of the refrigerator is opened, the mechanism, and entire refrigerating area of the refrigerator is Fig. 8 is asimilar view with the mechanism in exposed to room temperature. As a result the a different operating position. cold air, which is produced at a certain amount Referring now to the drawings in detail 5 repreof expense, is dissipated and the space is filled sents a refrigerating box which may be made in 70 with warm air from the room. This makes it any manner suitable for the purpose and, as is necessary for the mechanism of the refrigerator customary, having a door 6 which is hinged as at to function in cooling the admitted warm air. 7 adjacent its top and bottom at the front of the As a result of these operating conditions not only box 5.

is the expense in maintaining a refrigerator 9. In the-showing made the invention has been 7 considerable item to contend with, at least comillustrated as applied to that type of box having pared to what it would be, under more favora single door. In practice this is not of any able conditions, but the varying temperatures particular significance as the advantages of the brought about by opening the door results in invention may be realized in combination with a deterioration of the food. box having two or more doors for obtaining access 8 The primary object of our invention is to overto the contents of the box. As a matter of fact comethe inefficiency of the present type of rethe type of box has little, if anything, to do with frigerators by-equipping thes'ame with individual the application of the invention. This same storing compartments which are selectively acreasoning holds true in connection with the type ,30 cessible for the insertion or removal of food stuffs of refrigeration employed. The refrigeration 5 without, not dissipating the cold air in all of may be of electro-mechanical type or of the gas the other compartments, but preserving almost type. As a matter of fact the invention is also all. of the cold air in the particular compartapplicable to ice boxes. ment into which access is h'ad. According to the invention instead of dividing Other objects of the invention will appear the storage space of the box into a tier or tiers hereinafter, the novel features and combinations f gri lik h v as is Customary; W P p being set forth in the sub-joined claims, to divide the space into a series of individual Obviously those skilled in the art may make drawerv like compartments. As ustrated only various changes in the construction and arranget of lines? compartments are shown in additmn ment of parts without departing from the. spirit the freezmg compartment and the other m and Scope of the invention as defined by the partment along side the same. As a matter of claims hereto appended, and we therefore do not falct 2 Hunger of gz g fg 3: 3; wish to be restricted to the precise construction mg h i contained herein dvi e up espace. e presen s ow ng, ow-v Theinvention'is exemplified in the arrange ever, 1s suflicient for the purpose of illustrating ment of parts shown in the accompanying drawg g gg g and the construction 0! the ings and described in the speciflca Each of these compartments preferably comtion. prises a drawer structure having a front wall 8 50 In sai dr wi s: a back wall 9 side walls 10 and a bottom 11. The 1 Fi 1 i a V w f the'flont elevation of a top being open. Each drawer isintended to slide refrigerator constructed in accordance with our on ledges, rods or the like which are fixed within invention; x, the box in proper spaced relation. The bottom Fig. 2 is a viewin vertical section on the line 11 of each drawer is made with spaced openings 55 22 of 1; l 12 which are oblong in shape as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The uper edges of these openings are made with rims 13 to serve as knife edges on which the shutters 14 slide. The purpose of pro-- viding these knife edges is to offer a pointed, or in other words, a relatively sharp sliding contact for the shutters 14 so as to avoid the possibility of collecting moisture and retarding or otherwise defeating the free sliding movement of the shutters. These contact rims 13 also support the shutters 14 in spaced relation relative to the bottom of the drawer between the openings 12. The food stuff occupying each drawer is supported by a grille 15 so as to hold it away from the operating action of the shutters and also to allow for circulation, not only around the food, but

under the same as well.

The ventilating openings 12 of each' drawer are arranged in any manner suitable for the purpose, but for all practical purposes it is proposed to arrange a series on opposite sides of the center line of the drawer and preferably, from front to rear at spaced intervals.

The shutters 14 are preferably made in the form of a sheet metal blank cut to approximately correspond to the dimension of the bottom of the drawer. It will be smaller however, because the shutters slide from front to rear and this sliding movement must be accounted for. When the shutters are at the limit of their rearward movement the openings 16 are out of register with the openings 12 consequently the spaces 17 between the openings 16 overlie the openings 12 and close the same.

The shutters for each of the drawers are collectively operated automatically by the opening and closing of the refrigerator doors 6 so that when the door 6 is open the shutters will be collectively operated to close the openings 12 and thus shut off circulation in all the drawers.

Otherwise stated the object of the invention is to prevent the escape of the cold air from all of the compartments. Now then, if access is desired into any compartment the door 6 is of .course opened and the act of opening the door 6 will close the openings into all of the compartments. With the openings in all of the compartments thus closed any drawer or drawers may be pulled out to obtain access thereto. The shutters remaining closed when the drawer is opened.

The operating mechanism for opening and closing-the shuttersin each drawer comprises in its simplest form a headed pin 18 which is fixed to the web 19 of each shutter and thussupported to work in a slot 20 in the bottom of the drawer. The lower end of the pin is equipped with a diamond or triangular shaped block 21. It now follows that by imparting a push to the pin 18 the shutter will slide rearwardly into its terminal position with the pin at the rear end of the slot 20 and the spaces 17 between the openings 18 overlying the openings 12 thus closing the same.

.By imparting a forward pull to the pin 18 the shutter will be moved forward to register the openings 16 with the openings 12 thus establishing a communication between the interior of the drawer.

It is desired to automatically close the shutters collectively when the door 6 is opened and to automatically open the shutters collectively when the door is closed. To accomplish this objective an operating arm 22 is supported under each drawer by a pivoted connection as at 23 supported by the ledge, or an extension thereof on which the drawer slides. The extremity of the a m 1 the drawers and co-operates therewith in enclosing the refrigerating space within the box. The wall 2'7 is made with an opening through which each of the operating rods 25 protrude.

Each rod is under the influence of a spring 28 which is coiled around the same between the face of the wall 27 and a collar 29 fixed on the rod. Furthermore, each rod has a diamond shaped operating head 30 which co-operates with the clevis like jaws 31 carried by the door 6.

When the door 6 is closed the clevis like jaws 31 bear against the collars 29 and thrust the rods 25 against the influence of the springs 28. This thrust imparted to the rods 25 will cause the operating arms 22 to swing about their pivots 23. The end of each of the operating rods 22 is made with a relatively long curved finger 32 and a heel 33. When the rods 25 are thrust inwardly, by the act of closing the door as previously stated, the swinging movement of the arms will cause the fingers 32 to engage the diamond shaped blocks 21 and pull the pins 18 forward which in turn slide the shutters to open the ventilating openings as above described.

When the door is opened the springs 28 will exert their influence and pull the rods 25 outwardly which will cause the operating arms 22 to swing into a position where the heels 33 thereon will engage the diamond shaped blocks 21 and slide the shutters rearwardly to close the ventilating openings. c 7

From the above it will thus be seen that all of 115 the shutters are collectively closed when the door is opened and collectively opened when the door is shut, consequently when the door is opened to remove and replace anything in the compartments, all drawers will be unaffected by any 120 change in temperature, all being sealed on all sides and the bottoms of the drawers and'the greater weight of the cold air keeping it all practically within their confines.

In the event that a sliding movement of the rods 25 is interfered with in any particular it will be possible to help the springs 28 by means of the clevis like jaws 31. In this respect the rods 25 are mounted for limited rotating movement by means of the offset slot 34 on each rod. A detent 35 rides in these slots 34 to limit this rotary movement. Each of the detents are fixed to the back of the wall 27 adjacent the rods,

With the rods mounted for limited rotary movement as described the act of closing the door will cause the inside edge of the clevis like jaws 31 to ride the side of the diamond shaped heads 30 thus rotating the rods and positioning the inturned ends of the jaws behind the head. When the door is opened the inturned ends of the jaws ride the sides of the head and there will be just enough friction to impart a slight pull to the rod before the head is released from the jaws and this slight pull will be sufficient to overcome any resistance to the sliding movement of the rods thus making sure that the springs will properly function.

The shape of the finger 32 and heel 33 on each of the operating rods 22 is of importance because the outward sliding movement of the drawers is 'arms are ina position to close the shutters the heel 33 will have come to rest in a position as 'out the drawers or compartments.

shown in Fig. 4 where it is entirely clear of the co-operating block 21. This clearancev is further accounted for by the shape of the blocks. Anyone of the drawers may then be pulled out without interfering with the operating area. When the drawer is pushed back into place the ventilating openings will remain closed until the door 6 is closed whereupon the finger 32 will operate to pull the shutters forward and open the ventilators.

While the foregoing descriptionhas been devoted to the two lower drawers it should be explained that the unit 36 in the top of the box may be made with a sliding drawer and also having the ventilating openings with the same shutter arrangement. The same shutter arrangement is also provided for the freezing unit 3'7. In this freezing unit 3'7 however, a sliding drawer is dispensed with and a drop door 38 is used. This door is hinged as at 39 at the top and is lifted up to obtain access to the compartment 37. The door 38 is hung so that it will close under its own weight. The openinginto the compartment 3'7 is made with a knife edge 40 around the same for the same reasons as explained with reference to the sliding movement of the shutter 14 on the bottom of the drawers.

Since there is no sliding drawer in the freezing unit 37 the operating rod 41 therefore need not.

be equipped with the fingers and itis only necessary to pivot the same as at 42 to the frame with the opposite end of the arm pinned to the shutter as at 43. In the case of theother side of top section 36 which does have 'a pull out drawer the fingers are utilized. In this case the operating arm 22 is pivoted as at 23 with its end connected to the central-operating rod 25 along side of the connection to the operating arm 41; The operating arm 25' is arranged in the center instead of to one side as in the lower compartments. It

operates in the same manner as described with reference to the lower compartments except that it serves both sets of shutters 14. The clevis like jaw 31 for this rod is positioned in the center of the door 6 as shown in Fig. 1.

As indicated by the arrows in Fig. .1 a continuous. unobstructed circulation is provided for behind the wall or frame 27 so that the'cold air will continue to circulate from top to bottom in and When the door 6 is open however, this circulation is interrupted because all of the shutters are closed but just as soon as the door 6 is' closed the shutters are all opened simultaneously and the circulation can then continue. In order to encourage this circulation from top to bottom so that .it will go down one side and come up the other side it is proposed to hang curtains 44 part way down in each drawer parallel with the center line of the drawers. The curtains may be suspended from rods 45 which extend from frontto rear of the drawers and carried by the front wall or frame 27 and the rear inside wall of the box. This arrangement of curtains will discourage cross circulation and encourage up and down circulation through the freezing unit which of course is highly desirable.

Each drawer should be equipped with a limit stop 46 which will determine the extent't-o which it may be pulled out in obtaining access to the contents of the same.

vFrom the above it will be seen that the present I invention has many possibilities in maintaining even low temperatures in refrigerators even though the door of the box is frequently opened.

Such an arrangement will not only be a considerable saving in operating cost but it is a more complete scientific treatment for food stuffs and when it is cosidered that these accomplishments are arranged with a small number of operating parts with nothing to get out of order it can be appreciated what an improvement it is over the customary manner of constructing such an equipment.

For conveniencethe front of each drawer will be equipped with a glass panel so that the contents of the drawers may be examined without opening the drawers and looking for any particular article that is desired.

Furthermore, all of the food in the drawers is conveniently accessible without reaching back of any shelf as in the conventional refrigerator. Having thus described and shown an embodiment of our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States,

1. A refrigerator having an interior storage space, a door for obtaining access to said space, a plurality of drawers in said space, air circulating openings in one of the walls of each drawer, and closures for said openings operable by the opening and closing of said door.

2. Arefrigerator having an interior storage space, a freezing unit for cooling said space, a plurality of drawers slidably mounted in said space, each of said drawers having air circulating openings which provide for circulation between the drawers and the freezing unit, shutters for said openings and operating mechanism for opening and closing said shutters, comprising operating arms for the shutters and spring influenced operating rods connected to said arms and actuated by the door through which access is had into.

of circulating openings to establish circulation between the drawers and the freezing'unit, shutters for said openings and-means actuated by the opening and closing of the refrigerator door for opening and closing said shutters.

4. In a refrigerator, a frame structure within said refrigerator, drawers mounted to slide in said frame structure, the front of said drawers co-' operating with the front 'of the frame structure to provide an enclosed space within the refrigerator, a freezing unit for the refrigerator; each of said drawers and the freezing unit having a pluf rality of circulating openings to establish circulation between the drawers and the freezing unit, shutters for said openings and means actuated by the opening and closing of the refrigerator door for opening and closing said shutters,- comprising operating arms pivoted under each of the drawers, pins on the shutters extending through slots in the bottom of the drawers, operating heads on said pins, and means on the operating arms to engage said heads for sliding the shutters in opposite directions, actuating rods for said arms supported in the frame structure for sliding movement, springs on said rods to move the same outwardly when the door of the refrigerator is opened; to thereby close the shutters and means on the refrigerator door to impart a thrust to said rods against the resistance of said springs for opening the shutters when the refrigerator door is closed.

5. The combination as set forth inclaim 4 and in which the means for engaging the heads of the pins clears the heads when the shutters are closed; whereby the drawers are released for unlimited outward sliding movement.

6. The combination as set forth-in claim 4 and in which the drawers are equipped with baifle like curtains suspended above the drawers from front to rear and along thecenter line of the drawers to direct an up and down circulation of air between the freezing unit and the drawers.

7. The combination as set forth in claim 4 and 

